With the wind howling in Sunday in the first game of a Big Ten doubleheader at Indiana, Northwestern showed its power prowess with a pair of deep home runs and seven total extra base hits that aided an 8-3 Wildcats’ win at the IU Softball Field. In the second game, it was all Indiana en route to an 11-3 win in six innings. The win gave Indiana two wins over Northwestern in the same season for the first time since 1997. The Hoosiers connected for three home runs, matching a season high. Watch our highlights from the Northwestern-Indiana doubleheader now

A two-run home run by Erika Petruzzi in the fifth inning was all the offense Purdue needed to take a 2-1 win over the Ohio State in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, and in Game 2, the Boilermakers capitalized on five Buckeyes miscues to post the doubleheader sweep in an 8-3 win. Watch our highlights from Purdue’s sweep now, plus check out our interview with Lexi Moore and get our Sunday Big Ten roundup in this post. Lexi Moore interview: Iowa 6, Nebraska 4 Two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning broke a four all tie and

Big Ten spring football games weren’t the only events affected by the inclement weather across Big Ten country Saturday. A fair share of baseball and softball games were postponed, as well. See Saturday’s softball roundup, courtesy of BigTen.org in this post. Wisconsin 8, Illinois 0 URBANA, Ill. — Timely hits, strong pitching and errorless defense led the Wisconsin softball team to an 8-0 win over Illinois Saturday night. The win was the ninth-straight for the Badgers, setting a school record for most consecutive wins. Wisconsin scored two runs in the third inning, two in the fifth and four in the

Several Big Ten teams took to the diamond on Wednesday, including the Ohio State softball team, which snapped a three-game skid with a narrow 3-2 victory over instate foe Dayton. Watch our Student U team wrap up the Buckeyes’ win now and jump inside for a wrap-up of the Michigan State baseball team’s 13-5 defeat against Eastern Michigan. It was all about the third inning for the Spartans, as they allowed 12 runs in the frame en route to the lopsided loss.

The Boilermaker bats were hot on Sunday as Purdue down Indiana softball 11-2 in the final game of the series. Purdue posted 17 hits in the game, including multi-hit efforts by six players. Molly Garst, Lindsey Rains and Tori Chiodo tallied three hits apiece, while Ashley Courtney, Maia Monchek and Ashley Burkhardt each chipped in two. Lexy Moore (16-4) allowed just two runs on six hits. Lora Olson was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs in three innings of work. Meaghan Murphy threw four innings of relief. Read full recap at PurdueSports.com and see all of Sunday’s

Iowa and Northwestern split a doubleheader Saturday afternoon, with the Hawkeyes taking the first game, 5-2, and the Wildcats claiming the second game, 7-6. Northwestern scored four run in the fourth to rally from a 2-0 deficit in Game 2 to avoid the doubleheader sweep. In Game 1, Iowa pushed five runs across the plate in the second inning to bury Northwestern. The Wildcats did score single runs in the fourth and sixth innings, but it wasn’t enough. Watch highlights now and see Saturday’s other Big Ten scores in this post. See Saturday’s other Big Ten scores, courtesy of BigTen.org:

Northwestern unleashed a six-run fifth inning Sunday at Wisconsin on its way to an 8-3 win and the series win. Leadoff hitter Emily Allard recorded her second four-hit game of the season, while also adding two runs and an RBI. Northwestern moves to 14-18 overall on the season with its win, 2-4 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin now is 14-12 on the year with its loss, 3-3 in the conference. Read full recap at NUSports.com. And don’t forget to watch our Northwestern-Wisconsin highlights now and get video and recaps from all of Sunday’s games in this post. Michigan 7, Indiana

Iowa posted a doubleheader sweep over Illinois on Saturday at Pearl Field. The Hawkeyes won 5-1 in the opener before downing the Fighting Illini, 9-1, in six innings in game two. “I am proud of the kids for how they came out, took this week of practice and really implemented it in the ball game,” Iowa head coach Marla Looper said. Read the HawkeyeSports.com recap. Also, watch our highlights now and get scores and recaps from all of Saturday’s action in this post. BigTen.org: Saturday’s Big Ten results

After six weeks of non-conference play, the Big Ten softball schedule opens this weekend for all 12 teams. Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State and Purdue all host conference-opening series this weekend. [View Big Ten standings and stats] Entering Big Ten play, conference squads have combined for more than 30 victories against teams ranked in the top 50 of the final 2011 RPI and more than 60 triumphs against top 100 clubs. Michigan appears at No. 20 in both the NFCA and USA Softball polls, while Nebraska is receiving votes in the USA Softball rankings. Boasting the most nationally distributed

The Big Ten Conference released its Big Ten Softball Players of the Week for March 12-18 action Monday. See all the winners and check out what they did to earn the distinctions in this post. Player of the Week: Alicia Herron, Ohio State, Sr., SS, Cypress, Calif./Cypress Batted .500, drove in eight runs, scored five more and stole two bases in leading Ohio State to a 3-0 mark at the TSU Classic over the weekend Finished the week with an OPS of 1.917 after hitting two home runs and two singles while also drawing two walks Against Belmont, launched both